John Dawlish (Ninclow)
John Dawlish was a half-blood wizard in the employment of the Ministry of Magic in London. An academically gifted student during his formative years, Dawlish left school with top marks in all his N.E.W.T.s. and would go on to become a well-respected and highly capable Auror. A seasoned fighter of good repute, Dawlish fought very valiantly against Lord Voldemort and his supporters during the 1970s, during which he lost his wife to the war, but ultimately became renowned for his defeat and successful capture of Antonin Dolohov, who had earned particular notoriety for being among the most powerful and dangerous of all the Death Eaters under Voldemort's command. A hardened veteran, Dawlish have he spent most of his working life fighting Dark Wizards, and have long come to be regarded as reliable, trustworthy and able, and known for his staunch loyalty and tireless diligence to the Ministry of Magic. Having burnished himself in status and ability throughout an illustrious career, Dawlish is known to have been called upon for special assignments beside mere crime scene investigations and other field work, and takes pride in often being the Ministry's first choice to guard high profile targets, or protect high-risk areas from attack. Even so, some regard him as blindly loyal to the institution he serves to the point of being a pawn, which he resents. Biography Early life (1930-1956) Born at the English St David's Hospital on the September 15, 18, little John Dawlish was given up for adoption almost immediately following his mother's parturition, but, being prematurely born and therefore very small and sickly, no one dared to take him in, since the doctors believed and there all around him began worrying that the child would be leaving the world almost as quickly as he entered it, discouraging potential parents from growing too attached to the tiny thing. The child lived, however, much to the surprise of the doctors tending to him, by the time the boy had become healthy enough to leave the safety of the hospital, he had already been made a ward of the state. As such, the childhood of John Dawlish was not an altogether easy one, having grown up in a dingy orphanage in London from where he retained very few memories to which he could look back upon with any fondness, not counting the summer outings. wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he would be sorted into Ravenclaw House and finish his education earning top marks on all of his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. An accomplished wizard, Dawlish joined the Ministry of Magic in London almost immediately his graduation, and completed a stringent series of character and aptitude tests to be accepted into the comprehensive, three year long training programme subscribed to potential applicants for the Auror Office. Having fought Dark wizards for most of his working life, in time, Dawlish became a hardened veteran. Having served with distinction for several years and gaining a considerable reputation throughout a long and illustrious career. Though no Mad-Eye Moody, Dawlish is nevertheless noted to have a highly reputable caliber based on his service, and fought valiantly against Lord Voldemort and his supporters during the 1970s, during which he were responsible for a lot of captures and arrests of dangerous Dark wizards, as well as for having defeated and killed a notorious and much feared Death Eater by the name of https://www.hp-lexicon.org/character/wilkes/Wilkes. By the mid-1990's, Dawlish had long become highly regarded as an excellent Auror, and wwere even enlisted to serve as bodyguard to the Minister for Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge. Upon the official announcement of the Dark Lord's return, however, Dawlish was reassigned to a task force stationed in the village of Hogsmeade in order to provide Hogwarts Castle extra protection. In spite of effectively having assisted the Death Eaters in the persecution of Muggle-borns during their regime, Dawlish never served time in the wizarding prison of Azkaban, having been forgiven for his crimes and duly omitted from most official records from that time of because he was coerced into helping them by threats to his daughter's life and eventually being placed under the influence of the Imperius Curse for much of the time, and thus unconscious of anything that he was doing. His true strength of character became apparent when he received word that Hogwarts were under sige by the Dark Lord. Still recuperating at the St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after his failed attempt to apprehend Augusta Longbottom at the time of this discovery, the realisation of what kind of danger his daughter was in quickly allowed him to break free from the hold that the Dark Lord's followers had over him. In spite of his injuries, Dawlish did arrive toward the end of the battle alongside hundreds of reinforcements consisting of the residents of Hogsmeade and the friends and family of all the Hogwarts students who had chosen to stay and fight, though he came too late to save her. Raised without any proper form of parental love and among people who were all too different from himself, young Dawlish spent most of his formative years struggling against a difficulty in making friends and the constant "bitterness of abandonment" from the knowledge that his parents had jus simply tossed him aside.. Neither of which, understandably enough, was made any easier by the fact that Dawlish, in his youth, had been quite unaware of his wizarding heritage, meaning that whenever he experienced one of the episodes of small but unmistakable, signs of magic, he had no way of knowing, let alone understanding the many oddities that happened around him, which, while sporadic, still was talked about in hushed voices behind closed doors long afterwards, causing him much additional distress. Often in conflict within himself throughout most of his formative years about whether there was something wrong with him or if the staff at the orphanage simply did not understand him, while he in later years admitted that the orphans in residence were well cared for, he still remembered it to be a rather grim place to grow up, even without the additional complications of doing so with magic in a Muggle world. His life were to take an unexpected turn, however, when a peculiar-looking older gentleman in a flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet and a great deal of auburn hair and beard, both of which were almost artistically threaded with silver whom John had never one morning stood at the door. Noticing how the matron appeared to know who he was, John overheard just enough to figure out that it was because of him that the this mysterious visitor whom John had never seen before dropped by within a week of his eleventh birthday. Brave in the face of adversity, however, John made every effort not to show any hint of his initial disappointment when he learned that their mysterious visitor, who, upon introducing himself by a name that was every bit as peculiar as the man himself, explained that he was, rather than looking to adopt him, as John had initially thought, a teacher who had come to offer him a place at their school. Even so, John was greatly surprised to hear that he was a wizard, eagerly accepting the offer when Dumbledore responded to his initial skepticism by stepping out of his own shoes and having them tap dance across the floor by themselves with the wave of a wand. The following morning, Professor Dumbledore took him to Diagon Alley, where he bought a wand and some second-hand robes and spell books for himself with a stipend from school. Hogwarts years (1956-1962) The young Dawlish’s arrival at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not the triumph that he had expected, however. Having never really gotten along with the other orphans, partially, he had realised, due to the accidents and embarrassments that his magic accidentally caused, Dawlish had very much looked forward to meet other witches and wizards, hoping to feel normal for the first time in his life and at long last have friends and playmates of his own. Which was why it came as a rather unwelcome shock when he unexpectedly drew| unusual attention to himself on his very first evening, even before he had the chance to set foot inside the castle. Physical appearance A tough-looking wizard whose solemnity of manner often give his whole expression an air of alertness and decision, which some might find off-putting or even somewhat intimidating. John Dawlish is a stocky man with very short, wiry grey hair, wide silvery blue eyes and a pointed chin. He often tends to wear a brown trench coat while on duty. Personality and traits Driven primarily by steely determination and a crushing sense of duty, John Dawlish is an exceedingly dedicated individual. Known by most to be reliable, solid and serious, he is noted for his highly reputable caliber in the ranks of the Aurors and impressive track record. As such, it is not for nothing that it is generally felt by many that only a fool would ever question the fact that Dawlish, whatever other faults he might have, is a staunchly loyal and unwavering ally, and, to the enemies of the Ministry of Magic, an implacable foe. Even so, he still remain something of an enigma to most people in the Ministry of Magic: A reserved, almost taciturn man, Dawlish pours all of his energy into his work and often remain extremely reticent where his personal affairs is concerned, and have as a result long come to be seen as the perfect image of gravitas and enigmatic austerity, concealing many facets of his personality behind grim-faced stoicism and courteous, albeit be it somewhat curt, professionalism. Having always been a very brave and private person, Dawlish, while highly capable and undeniably a good man in a corner, have nevertheless a very strained relationship with some of the other lawmen. Often seen as overly serious even for an Auror, he rarely smiles and seldom gives compliments freely. Nor does it help that he will naturally adopt a somewhat controlling persona towards people around the office, often coming off as a bit brusque and impatient. Hence, there are those who feel he can be not only difficult to read, but also difficult to work with. Still, Dawlish is by no means so complicated an individual as to prevent people of good instincts to understand his motivations reasonably well: As such, some of the older, wiser associates of Dawlish's have come to regard the aforementioned domineering demeanor, not to mention his habit of volunteering for the most dangerous assignments the Head of the Auror Office have to offer, as a telltale sign of how he truly feels about them all, having guessed correctly that it is merely his rather reserved way of showing concern for their well-being. Magical abilities and skills * Magical Mastery: John Dawlish is a wizard of above-average intelligence and considerable ability, excelling in his studies and ultimately achieved an impressive academic record by earning top marks on all of his N.E.W.T.s. Sometime after his graduation from school, he went on to become an Auror, which by all accounts served as a further testament of the fact that he was an unusually accomplished wizard, as only the best and brightest could ever have passed the highly demanding training program. As an official Dark Wizard catcher, he was more than proficient in at least Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms, as well as a very capable investigator trained extensively in specialised areas such as Concealment and Disguise and Stealth and Tracking. * Auror skills: Highly skilled, incredibly well trained and rather powerful, in time, Dawlish became considered by many to be an excellent Auror. By the mid-1990s, he had lead a very distinguished career, having demonstrated both bravery and resilience on numerous occassions during his many encounters with dangerous Dark Wizards and fought his way skillfully out of many tight corners. Ultimately, he became responsible for such a high number of captures and arrests of notorious criminals of the sort that his service record becamse so reputable that he was even enlisted to serve as bodyguard to the Minister for Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge. His successor in office, former Head of the Auror Department, Rufus Scrimgeour, would eventually entrust him with such assignments as being stationed in the village of Hogsmeade to guard Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from potential Dark attacks when the magical community was in a state of open warfare and tail individuals distrusted by the Ministry of Magic * Martial magic: As an official Dark Wizard catcher, Dawlish's ability in combative magic were naturally considerable, but by the Second Wizarding War, a combination of unfamiliar situations, far superior opponents, sheer bad luck and Confundus Charms effectively meant that Dawlish was prevented from exercising the full extent of his skill. His two encounters with Albus Dumbledore aside, both of which predictably enough ended in defeat given how the Headmaster were a wizard of such tremendous ability that no Auror could have hoped to keep up with him, the rest of his subsequent failures came about from various unforseen factors rather than any actual ineptitude on Dawlish's part. During the attempted outsing of Rubeus Hagrid from Hogwarts, the idea were to convince Hagrid to leave the grounds quietly, and when this did not work, to restrain him. An not altogether easy task by any means, when spells that would usually suffice to incapacitate the criminals Dawlish usually went after had little to no effect on Hagrid due to the magical resistence that came with being a Half-Giant, and the use of any unwarranted lethal force would be illegal. Though knocked unconcious by Dirk Cresswell while transporting the former to Azkaban, Cresswell himself attributed his escape to another wizard or witch Confunding Dawlish beforehand. By the time he was dispatched by the Death Eater-controlled Ministry of Magic to take Augusta Longbottom hostage in an effort to ensure the obidience of her rebelious grandson at Hogwarts, he had been the "favorite punching-bag" of the Order of the Phoenix for some time and described as "punch-drunk", in addition to being Confunded, both of which were a clear hindrance both in carrying out a successful arrest as well as less than convinient when he would have to defend himself when Augusta resisted arrest, leading to his submittance to St Mungo's Hospital. When he recovered from his injuries and was released from Azkaban, it can be assumed that, granted he was allowed to continue to work for the Ministry and not imprisioned for assisting the Dark Lord's regime, that his abilities were put to much better use, as well as to much better effect, in helping to round up the ramining Death Eaters. Category:Ninclow